Bengaluru: The Karnataka Government has appointed a Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) to dispose the properties of Tamil Nadu former Chief Minister Late J. Jaya Lalitha, which was seized by State Government in a disproportionate assets case in 1996.

Kiran S Javali has been appointed as the SPP to appear before the Special Court in the city on behalf of the State of Karnataka with reference to the disposal of properties seized in the case of Jaya Lalitha and others.

The Government seized the properties of Jaya Lalitha i.e., Poes Garden residence in December 1996, and included seven kg of gold ornaments, diamonds, about 600 kg of silver ornaments, 11,344 sarees, 250 shawls, 750 pairs of footwear, 12 refrigerators, 44 air-conditioning machines and 91 wristwatches. These items have been laying in Government’s custody after the CBI Special Court convicted Jaya Lalitha and her three associates in the disproportionate assets case in 2014.

The seized properties could not be disposed of in the absence of a Special Public Prosecutor and the CBI Court wrote to the Registrar General of the Karnataka High Court in October 2022 in this regard.

The law department issued a notification on March 27^th, 2023, appointing the SPP. This was in response to the special Court’s letter to the Karnataka Home Secretary to appoint a SPP.